Interesting feedback guys. Is it the bolstered look that is the thread connection to the 110?
Well speaking only for myself, the Benchmade is obviously evocative of the 110 though not a slavish translation and extension of it.
Yes, there is the silver bolster look, but there is also the clip point blade profile.
The 110 is the most iconic folder that features that blade shape and cosmetics, though there are some others.
So, a bolstered folder with a clip point screams to me an effort to capture part of the Buck mystique in that knife, particularly since old school bikers were known to carry the original. I don't think it an accident that a modern folder like this with its classic styling cues is marketed under the H-D logo.
So when I saw it, and gave some thought to all of BK Inc.'s fits and starts in making both updated 110s, like the 560, and a whole passel of one hander clip folders that never cashed in on the iconic look of the 110, I guess my question is why did it take someone at another company to make what could be seen as this straightforward evolutionary step into the future with the 110?
Your company already makes open frame locking knives. It would not be difficult for a company of your competence and stature to thin out two 110 profiled steel scales for a bolstered look with some sort of wood inlay, sandwiching a locking bar and a 3 3/4th" S30V clip point locking blade with thumbstuds. Heck, the Folding Kaling Pro demonstrates that you could do this style of knife in brass too as long as there were nested steel liners for the clip screws to tap into and lockback insterted rather than use a liner lock.
Throw in a reversible deep carry stainless steel clip that doesn't give up the the 110-ish one hander every time one sits in the couch or the truck and volia, smash hit all day at the $50-100.00 street price point for a 420HC basic on up to a premium steel. I happen to think that using the 2010 model number and a savvy past/present campaign in that same year could move such a knife in large numbers as long as the price is nowhere near the ridiculous amount that Benchmade wants for theirs.
I think the trick is that the blade really only has to be one hand opening, not closing. This would allow the lock release to remain out of the top of the rear bolster, maintaining the ergos that the mid point release of the Spyderco sometimes compromises.
The 560 was a step in the right direction, but it didn't offer a different way to either open it or carry it, hence it ultimately lacked a compelling argument for being a truly evolutionary product. Heck, with some slight modifications, the 560 could become the proposed 2010.
Get back to thinner 110 profiled stainless steel rather than titanium and get the wood on there. Offer basic 110 wood on a 420HC model and oak or walnut on a S30V version and tap each rear bolster for a reversible clip. Thumbstud a standard 110 profile clip point blade and make sure the frame is relieved with finger groves on both sides at the point where the studs will be swiped and you have it. Bonus points for an adjustable pivot and ELU serviceable torx screwed construction.
Flatter carrying, slightly lighter, off the belt, easy to clean and service, just as classy and non-tactical looking, but featuring the same wonderful cutting blade profile and grind? I'd buy two tomorrow.
...That Harley knife is quite attention grabbing and although it isn't a Buck, it is kina nice. You might be correct CJ, in that the bolsters seem to convey that "Buck Aura" to a certain degree. I found some details on that knife that were quite informative...
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